Indicating golf club



March 1950 w. H. HQLLOPETER INDICATING GOLF CLUB 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJuly 15, l946 March 21, 1950 w. H. HOLLOPETER 2,501,277

INDICATING GOLF CLUB Filed July 15, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 0 O i w- 1IIII 23 Patented Mar. 21, 1950 *S'TAT as RATE-NT- F. Fl CE I {INDIGATINGGQLFGLUB William H- Ho1 op er,-. Oaklandv Ca if- Application luly 15,1946;Sri2tbN0. 6834.697

4,.Claims. v l ;.This inventionrelates to amindicatingie lf elu.ianr.object:of-th sinvention istq providea go f club: suitable iorvusein .mak ng-..-practiee,- strokes .whereina; e0 1 hall: maybeidriven into.asuitable arrest-ing.;c1 viee;;.sueh as a: suspended fabric .or thelike and which will indicate totheperson usingnthe lelub vii/b61311?!his stroke therewitha is suehiast to-eause thesbalito veer tothe rightor 'tmtherleft ofsthe:intendedefli ht. that is, hoek or "fslicehanitheapproximate degree thereof. so that. .anpropriate stepsmay. he aen.-to.-make1cortti s'By. havingtherindieator thus embodieonlthesolirclub itself hractieeshotsmayh a n insarelativelyzlimitedrspate and although th actu lrzflish ;-ofthewba11b .fore it.,,isarrested. by the ifabric .is-relativelv short,--an.- aceurate indiqationimavbe obtained-in icative of-Whether the ball isistruck with a f.hook, or fislice andthe approximate degree thereof.

.-Another ,ohjectof thee-invention, :is. to; provide a, golf clubhaving. the: abovee-mentionedacharacteristicsj and which hasincorporated :therein. a means which will indicate approximately thelengthnf. fiightthatgweball .would have. taken if itrihad.hotibeeniarrestedhy the arresting .iabzric.

I W1th..the ,.fo11egoing:.and .othermbjects .in. view, which. berrnademanifestin the ioll v'ling detailed..deseriptionandsspesifioall.pointedoutin thesap endedmaim r reiereneeis hadto themesomp nyinedrawing for. an illustrative-.embodin'ient of .theginvention, :whereinz,.-Figure .1 isatop. plan viewofuthe.headbfuagolf club embodyin the prsent invention the shank substantially upon the line 5 5-upon= Figs2-inhas ahead --genera1-ly vindicatedat: 10 whiehzmay conform in shape. to:the shape .of a conventional driver (ii-brassy. .This head-.maybeattaeheduto theshank H in=any conventional. .or-rpreferired ionm.Thestrikingriaee Ofthe-head is; provided by a=platen l2whiehiisrlaterally slidablewith relation to the body of the head. ill.Qn. the-hack of the platen. there is ipreferablyarib. l 3 slidable in:a" groove :.on the .forward. side of the body. that uides the :platenHi2. aduringi its..latera1. .s1idi, .1 movement. The .platenalso-carries. studs 14.;that extend throughelongated slots-i5 inthebodybf the head M. and theses studs-l are surrounded Joy means ofeompr-ession. springs I Expressing against Washers H. The-studs beingslidahleiin the-clone gatedislots t5 penmitof lateraislidingimovement ofthe :platen and the pr.essurerpf.- .the. springs; il 6 on the washers H.-serves .to-.cause the platenrto henfrictional'lyheld in: any :positionto. whiehiit is moved. Opposed-witness markseindicated at :13, and i9are formed onthexheadllflandtheplaten lfi' respectiveiy. These witness.;marks lwhen aligned indicateithat the platen I2 is in ancentral orneutral position with relation to the (body: of the head. awithin theihead'. 1:0 there isdisppsed a-eountenweight 2t pivotedzas alt-.21within the head and- .carrying:.a&1ever-;..arm 22;.di5p05fidrb6- tweenspaoeddugsi 3 on lthevplaten. Theicounter. weight .20 :ismovable-imthesamecplanesasutha in .whieh the platen .l 2. ;:-is movable anckisso anrangedthat aslthegolf club isswrihgtm eon ter- Weight-\vi11;.be.subjected to: the, samecehtrifu a aetionastheplafin:1.2-;i'Iihedesisn :is ue that the weight of the ceunt rw ishtzfizmu li d. bytha-leve arm fmmJJEhHm V h-IZH 11 196 1i -0 gravit is eauali to. he weit O th platen: .2 .eth in heve ra m rom to thebp vot 2!. .conseo;....-,e 1. 11. 0; isswun onpqsinesm tsare createdrb .eehtrusaiaetim-abetth snow I. as .the esmement a e; equ l-ran are oppos d theplaten v i2 .wi l-n t he;d sp1ased-aenthatp sitio s less subase edotseme teoth han thesentiifueahmme i Within the head-.and-extehd-ineat sustanti ly ri ht .ansle atoethe -.s.trihine ...f e; ofzflth .1 here-is;amubu ari snid .f med .by; shat 4" offjt ehd nsbyzahottom ilhisguidehasa we ghtill slida 1 ...the h rweieh is. ur ed-in :its nea m strlposen:bym ah shautensiqnssptin 28 suitably anchored at the back of the headand fastened to the forward end of the weight. Along one side the weighthas ratchet teeth 29 engageable by a pawl 30. The pawl is pivotallymounted at the side of the guide and is urged into engagement with theratchet teeth 29 by means of a spring 3i that may be secured to thebottom 26. An arm 32 is secured to the pawl and extends upwardly throughthe top of the head and through a slot 33 therein. The top of this armis equipped with a button 34. On the weight 21 there is an upstandingfinger 35 arranged beneath a slot 36 in the top of the head and alongthe sides of this slot there may be graduations 37.

The operation of the club is substantially as follows: In makingpractice shots with a golf ball the platen I2 is adjusted so that thewitness marks i8 and I9 are opposite each other. The button 34 is movedto cause the pawl 30 to disengage the ratchet teeth 29 and thus allowthe weight 21 to be returned by the spring 28 to the back of the head.The club is swung in the conventional manner and during the swinging ofthe club the platen I2 is held against being thrown outwardly undercentrifugal action by the counterweight 20. When the ball is struck ifthe club head is moved in such a direction as to impart a hook or slicethereto this will disturb or displace the platen l2 with respect to thebody of the head and will be observable by the witness marks l8 and 19becoming disaligned.

Thus if the ball is struck in such a manner as to cause a slice, platenl2 will slide outwardly or toward the toe of the club head. Converselyif the ball is struck in such a manner as to create a hook the platen l2will slide inwardly. Once that the platen has been displaced from itsnormal or neutral position it remains in this displaced positionthroughout the swinging movement of the club due to the frictionalengagement of the washers H with the back of the forward side of theclub head.

At the instant of the impact there is a slight arresting of the forwardmovement of the club head and the inertia of the Weight 21 causes thisweight to slide forwardly in its guide against the action of the tensionspring 28. During forward movement of the weight the ratchet teethmerely slide or pass beneath the pawl. The pawl, however, locks theweight in its forwardmost position and the extent to which the weighthas moved forwardly may be read on the graduations 31 against the finger35. Thus the improved golf club serves not only to indicate whether theball is being driven with a hook or a slice but also indicates on thegraduations 31 the approximate distance that the ball would be drivendespite the fact that the actual flight of the ball may be arrested by acanvas fabric or the like quite close to the point where the ball isdriven. The entire structure within the head is preferably enclosed bymeans of a removable bottom 38 which is fastened to the bottom of thehead by means of screws passing through drilled and tapped ears 39 onthe body of the head.

From the above-described construction it will be appreciated that apractice golf club is provided which will indicate not only theapproximate distance that the ball would be struck if allowed tocontinue its flight but will also indicate whether the ball is being hitwith a hook or a "slice so that protective measures may be taken. Aftereach strike the platen 12 if displaced is returned to its normal orneutral position and the pawl is caused to release the weight by meansof the button 34 to allow the weight 21 to return to its initialposition.

Various changesmay be made in the details of construction withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by theappended claims.

I claim:

1. A golf club having a head, means providing a striking face forthehead, said means being mounted on the head for lateral movementrelatively thereto in the course of striking a golf ball therewith, andmeans for indicating a neutral position of the striking face providingmeans with relation to the head whereby the direction of displacement ofthe striking face providing means relative to the head can beascertained.

2. A golf club having a head, means providing a striking face for thehead movable outwardly. toward the outer end of the head or inwardlytoward the inner end of the head from a neutral position, and means forcounterbalancing the striking face providing means so that duringswinging of the club it will not be shifted relatively to the head bycentrifugal forces developed therein.

3. A golf club having a head, means providing a striking face for thehead, means shiftably mounting the striking-face providing means on thehead for movement toward the toe ofthe head or toward the heel thereoffrom a neutral position, a counterweight mounted on the head formovement toward the toe or toward the heel, and means connecting thestriking-face providing means and thecounterweight in mu tuallycounterbalancing relationship whereby when the club is swung centrifugalforces developed in the striking-face providin means and thecounterweight respectively will counterbal-- ance each other and thestriking-face providing means will be displaced from its neutralposition only by the manner in which it may engage a ball.

4. A golf club having a head, means providing a striking face for thehead, means shiftably mounting the striking-face providing means on thehead for movement toward the toe of the head or toward the heel thereoffrom a neutral position, a counterweight pivotally mounted in the headfor movement about its axis of rotation toward the toe or toward theheel, and means connectin the striking-face providing means and thecounterweight in mutually counterbalancing relationship whereby when theclub is swung centrifugal forces developed in the striking-faceproviding means tending to shift it toward the toe will becounterbalanced by centrifugal forces developed in the counterweight andthe striking-face providing means will be displaced from its neutralposition only by the manner in which it may engage a ball.

' WILLIAM H. HOLLOPETER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are .of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

